Richard Fuller Patterson

Military
media-18722.jpeg UPL 18722 F/O Richard Fuller Patterson of 121 [Eagle] Sqn RAF killed in action in Spitfire W3711 ironically on the same day that Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Object Number - UPL 18722 - F/O Richard Fuller Patterson of 121 [Eagle] Sqn RAF killed in action in Spitfire W3711 ironically on the same day that Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Fuller Patterson grew up in Richmond, Virginia and decided to join up in Canada to "get into the war". He flew as a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force from England as part of No. 121 Squadron. He went missing from a ground attack mission to Knocke, Belgium in Spitfire W3711 7-Dec-41. Killed in Action (KIA).



I am Fuller Patterson's grand-niece. It was previously mentioned that he had no family left and that is incorrect. I actually just collaborated on an article remembering Fuller for the Richmond Times Dispatch that appeared in this past Sundays (5/24/15) paper. Fuller's sister just died in 2013 and she was my grandmother. Fuller was an inspirational person. I have uploaded his story for all to read....the story of his death is almost as incredible as his life.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: No 121 'Eagle' Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Richmond, VA, USA 21 September 1915 Born son of James Thomas and Mattie Gregory Patterson, of Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Died

8647 Knokke, Belgium 7 December 1941 Missing from ground attack mission to Knocke in Spitfire W3711 7-Dec-41. KIA.
Richmond, VA, USA Exact dates not yet known

Enlisted

Montreal, QC, Canada Enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force

Based

Kirton-in-Lindsey 7 December 1941 No. 121 Squadron of the RAF were stationed here from May to December 1940

Other

Graduated from Princeton

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Buried

Bredene Churchyard Bredene, Belgium Bredene Churchyard, Belgium.

Revisions

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ContributorBombay
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ContributorBombay
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fix spelling

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ContributorAl_Skiff
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ContributorAl_Skiff
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ContributorLucy May
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Added some basic details to the entry from the article posted by Fuller Patterson's grand niece.

Also used:
http://www.northwealdairfieldhistory.org/content/eagle-squadrons
http://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/r-fuller-patterson
Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 42, page 24 (via Google Books)

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Contributorlcrittend
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update from Fuller's Grand-niece

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Contributorlcrittend
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I am Fuller Patterson's grand-niece. It was preiviously mentioned that he had no family left and that is in correct. I actually just collarborated on an article remembering Fuller for the Richmond Times Dispatch that appeared in this past Sundays paper. Fullers sister just died in 2013 and she was my grandmother. Fuller was an inspirational person.

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/article_a63aa409-bb…

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ContributorEmily
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Sources

Gordon F Penick, via American Air Museum Memory Book Correspondence

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ContributorAAM
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Combat Chronology / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Richard Fuller Patterson: Gallery (6 items)